Bribing
From WikEd
[edit] Descriptions, definitions, synonyms, organizer terms, types of
[edit] Definition
1. Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct.
2. Something serving to influence or persuade.
3. In general, Bribery is a form of corruption and is generally illegal, or at least cause for penalties from professional organisations. The level of non-monetary favours that constitute an incentive to unethical behaviour is variable and may constitute a matter of opinion in a given field. (retrieved April 28, 2005, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribe)
4. Anything that anyone will work for (Jones, 1987)
5. The receiving or offering any undue reward by or to any person whomsoever, whose ordinary profession or business relates to the administration of public justice, in order to influence his behavior in office and to incline him to act contrary to his duty and the known rules of honesty and integrity (Dobson, 1983)
[edit] Purpose
The idea behind bribery is motivating students to increase behaviors that are desired or positive. It is also a tool to get students to learn new behaviors. The idea of bribery suggests that we know what motivates students to act in positive ways. The goal is to help students become self-disciplined and productive. Algozzine and Kay (2001) believe the purpose of the bribe should increase motivation, promote cooperation between the teacher and the student, and to share control with the student.
[edit] Related Terms
The term “bribery�? is not found easily in any book regarding classroom management. Instead, terms such as incentive, reward, and/or reinforcement are used because different theorists use different terms for the same idea. As you can see from the definitions below, all of these definitions fit into Jones’ (1987) definition of “anything that anyone will work for.�?
Incentive system (Jones’ Positive Discipline): A reward for performing wanted actions. (Wolfgang, 329)
Rewards (Assertive Discipline): Treasured activities or treats that students will get for good behavior. (Wolfgang, 331)
Reinforcer (Behavior Analysis): A stimulus that increases or maintains the possibility of the behavior’s occurring again or speeding up. (Wolfgang, 331)
The idea of bribery is usually tied into motivation, as well. As explained above, bribery is used to speed up a behavior or motivate a student into doing something. There are two kinds of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation: Doing something for oneself. The motivation comes from within, possibly through morals or values.
Extrinsic motivation: Doing something for a purpose, including a reward, a grade, for praise, a paycheck, etc.
[edit] Types of Positive Reinforcers
Primary reinforcers do not rely on any previous knowledge. Instead, they are natural and instinctual, and are based on survival. Examples of primary reinforcers include food and water.
Conditioned reinforcers, also known as secondary reinforcers, or as Skinner calls them, generalized reinforcers, rely on the primary reinforcer for effectiveness. Conditioned reinforcers have no “intrinsic worth but whose power to control behavior is ultimately derived from earlier associations with primary reinforcers (Dickson, 27-8).�? Examples include stickers or tokens that are then exchanged for something that is more valued. This is known as token economies.
Social reinforcers are just what they sound like. This interpersonal reward depends both on the process, such as having time to talk with friends, and the content, specifically something of interest to the person receiving the reward. It is important to note that there can be too much or too little social reinforcement. Ideally, just the right amount should be used to be effective.
Sensory reinforcers appeal to the five senses. These are found to be helpful as rewards because they keep the person busy, usually require the presence of others, and are sometimes interactive. Examples of these include listening to music, painting, going to the theatre, or attending a sporting event.
Activity reinforcers involve activities rather than things. For example, instead of the food being the reward (a primary reinforcer), the ability to spend time eating would be considered the award.
[edit] Application in classrooms and similar settings
In a classroom, bribing is often used as an incentive for students to do their work, behave well, perform well on a test, etc.
Some teachers try to bargain or bribe their students into good behavior with rewards, such as food or videos. I have no comment on food, but videos as a reward conditions students not to learn from videos, not to take notes during them, and to turn off their minds to them once the video is over. Consider too, that the teacher can not show in school videos that some students watch outside of school and consider preferable, so that the desired behavior control of videos is limited at best and students may begin to demand further bribes for their continued good behavior. Additionally, some teachers offer "no homework" passes or missing days off from homework when particular behavior goals are reached in a specific time period. In this type of situation, the idea of homework as an important reinforcement is undermined. It sends the message to the student that homework is merely a filler in the life of the student that is unnecessary for the preparation of class. Don't 'tell' the class that you are giving a reward for good behavior toward yourself; this can lead to problems. This allows students negotiate with you and that can result in problems later. Don't reward with not having to do work, but perhaps by giving another day for an assignment.... Tell the class that you remembered their good behavior for the substitute. When they behave well for you, you are doing something right, keep it up. http://teacher2b.com/discipline/bribing.htm
[edit] How to Choose the Bribe
According to Algozzine and Kay (2001), the bribe should be determined with student choice in mind. Teacher can do this various ways, for example by tracking student preferences. Teachers should assess the students’ interests frequently, as they are known to change frequently. Surprises should be included occasionally to keep the students attention and interest. Algozzine and Kay (2001) and Sarason (1972) also warn teachers to be prepared for bribery and reward systems not working for some students.
[edit] How Big to Make the Bribe
It is difficult to say exactly how big a bribe should be. Dickson (1993) believes it depends on many factors, including the past experience of the reinforcer, how big the person receiving the reward believes is fair and deserved, and how and when the reward is offered. Jones (1987) adds that the person receiving the reward must find the reward attractive, or must want to reward, in order for it to accomplish its goal.
This size of the reward is a difficult concept to master, as many have proven that a reward too large (and sometimes any reward at all) actually decreases the motivation and does not accomplish the original purpose for the reward.
[edit] Fredric Jones' Positive Discipline
Fredric Jones' Positive Discipline technique believes in using bribing (or as he calls it, incentives) in classroom management. He notes that students must be given something they value so that they will want to keep it once it is in their possession. He uses group incentives, meaning the entire class earns or loses the incentive together, because he "concluded that if we could not generate cooperative and responsible behavior on the part of an entire classroom full of these alientated teenagers…the quest to manage discipline would ultimately be lost from sheer exhaustion (Jones, 17)." The way his system works is that the students know what the bribe is, say 15 minutes of Preferred Activity Time (PAT), but can lose the 15 minutes by acting in some undesirable ways. They can also add to that 15 minutes by behaving well. Jones' technique is designed to teach responsibility through the form of bribery or incentives.
[edit] Evidence of effectiveness
There are mixed feelings about the effectiveness of using bribery in classroom management. For example, Fredric Jones swears by it, and his Positive Discipline model is used in schools throughout the country. However, Alfie Kohn (http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kohn%2C_Alfie), as explained below, is able to use research to prove that bribes hurt student’s intrinsic motivation. It is up to the individual teacher and schools to decide on bribery’s effectiveness.
[edit] Critics and their rationale
[edit] Delia Robinson Richards
Delia Robinson Richards (1979) found in her dissertation research that preschool children lost interest in drawing after a reward was given. In addition, she found a decrease in intrinsic motivation after verbal reinforcement.
[edit] Alfie Kohn
Alfie Kohn (http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kohn%2C_Alfie) (Kohn, 1993) believes that bribing is not right and can be just as counterproductive as punishments. He says both are forms of manipulation, and neither can produce anything past temporary compliance. He goes on to say that “reinforcements do not generally alter the attitudes and emotional commitments that underlie our behaviors (Kohn, 41).�? In other words, he believes students who do an assignment or task in order to receive the bribe are less likely to develop an interest in the subject matter or to challenge themselves to do the best job they can. Students may feel no need to maintain the action once the reward is removed.
Teachers are often encouraged to rely on rewards rather than punishments, but research suggests that carrots can be just as counterproductive as sticks. Both are forms of manipulation, and neither can produce anything beyond temporary compliance. In fact, as Alfie Kohn, author of PUNISHED BY REWARDS, will argue, students who see themselves as doing an assignment in order to receive a gold star, an A, or an award are actually less likely to develop an interest in the subject matter or to challenge themselves to do their best. By the same token, stickers, popcorn parties, and even praise give students no reason to act responsibly when there is no longer a goody to be gained for doing so. For students to become lifelong learners and good people, we need to work with them rather than using techniques like rewards and punishments, which merely do things to them. http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/topics.htm
[edit] James Dobson
James Dobson (http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Dobson%2C_James) talks about bribery in "Dare To Discipline" as negative, believing there are drawbacks to bribery. Similar to Kohn’s argument, Dobson argues students who receive rewards for doing things that they already enjoy doing will become less inclined to do these things after the bribing stops. For instance, Johnny likes to read, but his mother says that if he reads 2 books a day he will receive a candy bar. Suddenly Johnny's motivation for reading, which was once enjoyment, is now replaced with the motivation for the reward. When the reward stops, the motivation level decreases as well.
[edit] Alternative explanations due to Diversity considerations
Many experts acknowledge that bribery does not work for every student (Algozzine and Kay, Sarason, Richards). However, these experts do not suggest reasons for these differences.
[edit] Signed “life experiences‿, testimonies and stories
Today's students for the most part are in unfortunate situations where they are given something for anything and everything they do. Most students that I have come across in the classroom do not have that pride as a natural motivator anymore. This is sad, but true. Education doesn't seem to be valued as much as it used to be and parents are not always as strict with grades and discipline as parents once were. This has moved to the notion of bribery in the classroom. Students are wanting something for what they do and so many teachers fall into the trap of giving the students what they expect. It is ok to reward students for following the expectations, but students should never receive it when it is expected. (Robert Hayes, 2008)
I have mixed feelings on the inclusion of bribery in my classroom. Although I recognize that it does not send the right message, it is often very effective. In today's world kids are accustomed to getting something for doing just about anything. Our society doesn't want little Johnny to be upset about losing his soccer game, so give him a medal too. I can't even tell you how many times I've heard students ask "What are we going to get for doing it?" Sadly, my rehearsed response of "The pure enjoyment of learning something new," does not seem to always be adequate in this day and age. J. Cappa
Just as students' positive behavior may be increased with bribery, we must be careful that they are not learning something else, as well. When using blatant bribery, my students have also learned that they can then use bribery against you. After bribing students with candy for good behavior in the library, the next time we were to go to the library they asked, "will we get candy? We will be good if we get candy." The reward from the bribe became required to get the same behavior, almost as payment. jjakob
An English teacher has found that many teachers try bribing students into good behavior with food or movies. This teacher believes that bribing students with videos is ineffective. The students do not learn from videos, don't take notes, and forget the video once it is over. Another bribe, usually called a reward that is common is class time when students don't have to do work. This is interpreted as saying to students that work is the opposite of a reward and that the best reward for students is to get out of doing work. The English teacher believes that the bribe should be a change of pace to some other learning activity, such as a discussion, play, riddle, etc. The reward should come from the teacher's awareness that the class has been working hard and needs a change of pace. Do not tell the class they are receiving a reward for good behavior towards the teacher. This will encourage the students to bargain. It is fine to reward the class for behaving well for a substitute teacher. Again, not with getting out of work, though. Listening to student requests and complaints and changing something according to their requests is not bargaining. Listening is a two-way street.
We have a system that I guess you could consider a form of bribery. We have a system where students are rewarded with food, candy, movies and other items for behaving the way that we want them to. The majority of our students would behave without this bribe but I feel it makes them feel good and recognizes their good behavior.
I had a form of bribery in my fourth grade classroom. We had to take our assignment books home every night for our parents to sign that we completed our homework. If we had the book signed we got to pick out a piece of candy. It worked well for the teacher because it involved our parents, and more assignments were completed with the help of the parents, and we liked getting a piece of candy everyday for having the book signed. MJB
I also use a form of bribery in my third grade classroom, although I prefer to think of it as an incentive program. My students are expected to have their assignment books signed by an adult every night. If they have their books signed every day for a week they receive a blue buck. These blue bucks can then be used as bathroom passes, to eat lunch outside, to have a pop in class, etc. The incentive works well with many students, but still isn't enough to get some motivated. -NMF
I'm a great supporter of not necessarily 'bribery' but rewarding positive behavior, or providing incentives to improve/reduce negative behavior. As a child, I was definitely raised this way, and I remember my mom telling me in the first grade, that I was to receive $3 for every A+, $2 for every A, and $1 for every B on both my mid and end of term report cards. I loved it, and it definitely encouraged the development of expectation and sincere concern about my grades and my academic achievements. As I got older, the dollar per grade increased to $5 for every A+/A and nothing for B's, until around the 5th grade where I was weaned off, and simply cared about my grades because I cared about my life and future prospects. At a younger age, I didn't understand everything about school necessarily, (although I was definitely proud to finally be able to color inside the lines) but I was motivated with money, so this was used to encourage a beginning interest in my academic career. I think it worked great, I've gotten a lot of 'straight A's'! Jasmine Johnson
As much as I like rewarding children for good deeds they have done, some children in day camp did not respond or behave unless they have received a reward. Even though I have not become a teacher yet, I have noticed in day camp that at the beginning I was bribing the children all around with treats for being good. It got to the point where the children were expecting the candy and not treating it as a reward, so they ended up misbehaving. I guess I just expected the kids at day camp to behave, but I’m sure since they are out of school and its the summer, that bribing the students to do good deeds with candy just wasn't working for me. We'll see what happens when I start teaching:). Carole Johnson
Bribing has such a negative connotation involved with it, that perhaps the word "incentive" would be a better choice in some situations. Students hate homework, regardless of how existing and well-taught the class and material is. Therefore, I think that rewarding well-behaved kids with say, no homework on a Friday night, can be a good incentive that is not harmful. How many adults would love to have a similar system where they work!
Sometimes it is not so much the bribe but what we use for the reward. If it is always a material thing that is the reward then I think the behavior you mentioned is common. If the reward is something like more attention, a hug, playing a game or getting a homework pass then I do not think that as much negative behavior is seen. Knowing you are doing a good job or improving can be enough and is something that the children can learn to use to encourage themselves. Teresa Hibler
As a child, my father would often bribe me to do certain things, usually schoolwork. When I was in elementary school, it was micro-machines. It got me to do the work, and, as a result, I know long division and can shoot a soccer ball. This certainly helped me later in life. (The long division, I am still no good at soccer.) When I reached high school, the bribery had no effect on me. I had become internally motivated and didn't care for the bribes that were offered. While many sources claim that bribery is ineffective, I believe that it can serve some good purposes. MP
I've read the criticism of bribery, and I can see how some people wouldn't like to use it. I use a system of incentives in my classroom. I don't like to consider it bribery, but more like another reward for doing well. I discuss with my students the intrinsic rewards that will occur when a student behaves or does well academically in class, but I also enjoy doing extra things for my students. I don't know if it necessarily improves their behavior or makes them do well on a test, but I think it shows the kids that I care about them and want them to succeed. In this way, my incentive program has achieved its goal. Amy Higgins
I understand all the criticism that goes along with giving people things for doing what they should already be doing anyway. That has been the gripe to the PBIS program for years. (Giving tickets to buy items for behaving properly) I do though like that fact that it does give you immediate results. Some of the students need constant reinforcement and can get it sometimes through bribery. Once they become more autonomous, then they will do it for themselves. (like getting money for grades…wean them off money…only offer money for the classes you know they struggle in or let them pick to two classes you want them to earn it for. Someday they will earn good grades because they like the way it makes them feel about themselves and their accomplishments). But unfortunately not all people become autonomous in life.
I tend to bribe my own children. I do this to help them learn to overcome something. My daughter had to get two cavities filled. She is terrified of the dentist. She refused to let them do anything to her. I talked to her and told her that she will survive having her teeth filled. I showed her my fillings and explained to her my experiences. She still refused to get them filled. I then told her that I will let her choose something for her American Girl doll if she lets them fill her teeth. She was open to that idea. She now has two fillings. I told her that next time she will not receive a reward for this. She was fine with that because she learned that the pain does not last forever. Nichole Jessup
My school also uses the PBIS program to motivate students to behave appropriately. As mentioned above, the students are given tickets when they are caught doing what they should be doing appropriately, and the ticket can be used to purchase snacks, school supplies, and the opportunity to go on a field trip. What I've noticed is that the rewards seem to be getting bigger and bigger to get students to buy into the program. I used to be on the PBIS committee and fully support it, but now I don't think extrinsic motivation is the answer. One thing that I do that seems to work well is tell my kids that if they do the bare minimum on a project, they will get 80%. I only give 90% or 100% when a student goes above and beyond and demonstrates a lot of effort. Now that I think about it, if the grade is what the student is striving for, then I'm still giving an extrinsic motivation. I think we need to start looking at how we can foster that intrinsic motivation. If only our school districts could put some money towards research in motivating students to perform better at school. J. Adams
I to am a briber. My wife pointed this fact out to me recently. The worst part of it is that many times, I bribe with food. I know in today's world that health is very important and that children should not expect something that they may intrincially may like to anyway. I think bribes can be effective but must not be over used and food should not be used unless you want your children depend on food to get anything done. I have stopped my food bribeing but I will still bribe my kids from time to time. T. Ashley
I do confess that my first year of teaching was full of bribery and any gimmick I could use to keep the students busy and quiet. After countless attempts to get perfect behavior from my students and failing, I eavesdropped next door and heard a veteran teacher speaking in a calm tone and pausing to get her point across to her students. I realized that she didn't use all of these extra efforts in order to get students to do what they are supposed to do in school. So my second year teaching I refused to use tokens and found that if expectations are clearly stated, taught, and positively reinforced then the majority of students will behave properly and understand the purpose of coming to school each day. ~C.Hatchett
I am a briber. I have found it to work very successfully in my classroom. Bribery is not the only thing I use in my classroom, but it is something I use for a weekly reward. The tables in my room are able to earn a piece of candy at the end of the week if they have the most stars on Friday. Stars are earned through good behavior. The rest of my behaviors are taught in other ways. I do believe that by using this bribe it helps the tables to work as a team for a reward. I do think that if I were to take away the bribe it might be a bit harder to have the class behave as a whole. I do think it is possible, just harder. ~R.U.
[edit] References and other links of interest
Algozzine, Bob, Kay, Pam, ed. (2001). “Promising Practices for Preventing Problem Behaviors.�? In Preventing Problem Behaviors: A Handbook of Successful Prevention Strategies. Corwin Press/Council for Exceptional Children, California.
Dickson, David, Saunders, Christine, Stringer, Maurice. (1993). Rewarding People: The Skill of Responding Positively. Routledge, New York.
Dobson, James. (1983). Dare to Discipline. Tyndale, Wheaton.
http://teacher2b.com/discipline/bribing.htm
http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/topics.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bribe
Jones, Fredric H. (1987). Positive Classroom Discipline. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Kohn, Alfie. (1993). Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise and Other Bribes. Houghton Mifflin, New York.
Richards, Delia Robinson. (1979). The Effects of Extrinsic Rewards on Intrinsic Motivation in Preschool Children. Dissertation for University of Massachusetts.
Sarason, Irwin G., Glaser, Edward M., Fargo, George A. (1972). Reinforcing Productive Classroom Behavior. Behavioral Publications, New York.
Wolfgang, Charles H. (2005). Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems: Methods and Models for Today's Teachers. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
